(Reuters) – A Chinese national was killed during an attack on a mining camp run by Zijin Mining Group Co in the early hours of Tuesday in southern Democratic Republic of Congo, a report on the company’s website said.
The employee was shot at the Carrilu cement and limestone mine in Lualaba province as camp staff attempted to drive away seven attackers, the report said.
A Congolese national was also injured in the raid, but their condition was not believed to be life threatening. Lualaba’s governor and provincial mines minister did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company said the incident did not affect operations at its Kamoa-Kakula Copper project, a joint venture with Ivanhoe Mines that is considered the world’s largest undeveloped, high-grade copper discovery.
Despite security risks, Congo has attracted billions of dollars in investment from Chinese miners in recent years. In April three Chinese nationals were killed in the northeastern province of Ituri.
Zijin bought a majority share in the Carrilu mine in Kolwezi, near the Zambian border, in June last year for around $38 million, according to the company’s 2019 annual report.
(Reporting by Tom Daly and Min Zhang; additional reporting by Helen Reid; additional reporting and writing by Hereward Holland; editing by Grant McCool)
